Middlebury Student on JStreetU segment of conference

October 25, 2009

Middlebury Student Moriel Rothman blogged the first day of the JStreetU segment of the first national J Street Conference.

Finally.
I am at here at the beginning of the J Street U segment of the J Street conference, and after only the first evening, the feeling I have is “finally.”
When I tried to explain to my friends back at Middlebury College what J Street is, I found that I had trouble summarizing and classifying what J Street is: Finally.
However, for my friends back home, I will try, based on what I’ve felt during these first fews hours.
J Street is an organization that supports Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish State.
J Street is an organization that desires peace and justice for Israelis and Palestinians.
J Street is complexity, and it is nuance.
J Street is a voice that is made up of many different voices, that speaks in English and in Hebrew and in Arabic.
J Street is pulsing with energy, glowing with nervous excitement.
J Street is a chance for change, and the challenging the tired paradigms of narrowness and of “good and bad.”

Or, that’s how I see J Street, at least. I am thrilled to be here, to be a part of this, to help J Street move forward, and to grow. I am here to work for peace in a way that combines the complexities of who I am and what I believe.

Finally.